The Call of Duty series was fairly mediocre when it came to DLC... but then the original Black Ops turned up and surprised everyone. ItsThe Call of Duty series was fairly mediocre when it came to DLC... but then the original Black Ops turned up and surprised everyone. Its sequel had an even better run, though Infinity Ward didn't have as much luck with an underwhelming set of add ons. However, IW was redeemed with a rather good take on extra content for its rather disappointing new gen effort, Ghosts. Seeing as how Advanced Warfare is the best in the series (at least in my opinion anyway), will it deliver just as good a set of packs to live up to the main game? Or will its ambition cause it to fall foul of a bad season pass run? Well, going off this first pack, it certainly seems like Sledgehammer knows what they are doing...
Starting with the new gun and it's one of the coolest weapons in the game- I'd say it's the best of the four previous DLC guns to show up in the COD add ons. The AE4 is a laser gun with unlimited ammo, great reload times and a nice damage count. It also has a pretty good fire rate, even if it overheats quickly. No matter as it's still awesome and the futuristic yellow/red design makes it stand out even more. It also has a variant in the form of the Widowmaker, which is a blue version that comes in a supply drop. Overall it's a great gun, neither overpowered or weak and just right.
Now onto the maps. The first one is Sideshow and it's my least favourite- then again, every map in this pack is so good that this one is still great fun to play on. It's set at an abandoned clown inn off the side of a busy highway. It is delightfully creepy and my phobia of clowns means that whenever I enter a room full of them, I get pretty creeped out. It encourages all forms of play, with great lines of sight for snipers, plenty of cover for mid range gunners and some tight interiors that are great for those who want to get up close and personal. I didn't like how empty some parts can feel and some kills can be cheap, but the unique dynamic event when bombs pop out of the clown sign is pretty silly, but can also turn almost any game mode into Uplink. The explosive results are pretty entertaining.
The next map,Drift, is the standard snow map to come with the DLC. It is my second least favourite/third favourite due to the fact that it feels like it should have been bundled in with the main game and that it isn't inspired enough to really stand out. Aside from those negatives, it is actually pretty damn amazing. There are two cool features that make it worth you time though- a carousel that spins you around 360 degrees for maximum view of the wide environment and an avalanche that comes in at a certain time to wipe out players and to change up the environment with a snow covered design. There are multiple buildings to go inside, a fair few levels and a train at the end that can be jumped on (it is stationary though). There is a lot of cover and some good close quarters action, making this a fairly solid map.
I'm kind of tied as to my favourites on the last two maps, so I'll start with Core. It initially appears bland, with its wrecked environments and the large amount of sand. The few purple areas are pretty, but that's it. Then you realise how much verticality is available. Jumping around in the exosuit is fun and this encourages you to. The drills are also pretty cool and can change up your shooting if you put a few bullets under them, while there are some winding puzzles and a scorestreak that summons a 'clean up crew'...
The final map is Urban and i would liken it to the Nuketown of Advanced Warfare. It's small and futuristic and is full of some great action packed moments, with tonnes of close and mid range shooting to be had. It's a little static and I wish I could ride the hoverbike at the centre of it, but the neon blues and future-like ads surrounding the place makes it a fairly unique choice, even if the map name is pretty generic.
The final piece of content in this pack is... Exo Zombies! The popular mode is back with its first new chapter- Outbreak. While it kind of sucks that Advanced Warfare doesn't have its own unique co-op mode with Zombies and Survival appearing in other games, but this experience is so different from anything that's come before. You can play as any one of the four celebrities- John Malkovich, Bill Paxton, Jon Berthnal and Rose Mcgowan- and there is yet another big Easter egg to work through if you want to obtain the final prize. There are new perks like Exo Soldier, as well as new power ups like Security, new wonder weapons like the CEL-6 Cauterizer and new zombie types. The Exo suit brings the most improvements, even though you don't start with it and must instead trek across the place for a few rounds to reach it. It's a small, tight and tough map, but I love it! I've put 5 hours into this and can't wait to play more of it.
Havoc is a brilliant start to the season, with four great maps, an awesome new weapon and the best Zombies mode yet. In fact I wouldn't buy this if you don't like zombies.… Expand
